Coleus: Show us your beauties!

Hi, I know last year there was a thread with lots of beautiful coleus pics. If you have some that you are proud of, please share. I have some newly planted seeds and some from the local stores but not like you guys have. I don't think they have many named varieties in my area :(

The dirt colored Sedona, It's been in dappled shade, very little direct sun. Maybe the hot nights, about 80 degrees, is the problem, days are about 86 degrees.. Alabama Sunset is dreary, too. Hm, can't find a photo right off the bat. Perhaps they need more sun...

Photo is a NOID, so I named it Plaza Extra, for the grocery store where I bought it. The white disappears in sun. Likes deep shade. Dappled sun makes the white turn yellowish.

I am going to post a few I received from Dale last fall and made it through the winter.I do not know the names of any of them, so if you would like to help me figure some out feel free to dmail me so we will not highjack thread. I am numbering them as they apear in my file so if any names come my way..

During past years I have been focussing on survival and combat tactics against King Winter so I could keep them in a country where they're hard to rebuy in spring. It was all a horrible mess so from now on I will start concentrating on great combo's and visual aspects of Coleus plants so I can start enjoying them. These are a few experiments from my side. As usual I'm growing them on clay pebbles in stead of soil. This is The Flume with Trailing Queen and Flamingo.

Thanks everyone :)
I have tied the Redcoat to a stick today as it tilted over after some windgusts in the garden. The other topiary would have died anyway because of root rot.

Now the other problem is that I can't find enough shady spots to put all the Coleus in the garden. They're all stuck together behind a small hedge to protect them against sunburn so it's a mess again since I made a few extra combo's today :( Might spread them around the garden on a cloudy day or at evening, though. Or maybe I should move one of those giant banana trees to the center of the garden...

Judy , I don't mind at all. .They were 3.99 and with Florida tax each one was $ 4.23. Not bad for plants in a 1 gallon pot !

They were outin full sun... I would say both are a little orangey I am going to uppot my coleus to 7 gallon pots soon. You are right about growing them in both shade / sun. It is so much fun playing with these things:)

Ow, great, my Coleus combo with Duck foot , Felix and Dark Chocolate has been damaged by frost while grass temperatures dropped to 28F. I'm reading "Woensdag 23 juni 2010" at the right bottom corner of my computer screen, which means wednesday june 23, 2010. Probably a virus or trojan has affected the computer calendar or maybe I should change the language settings...

It was only frost at ground level here, and it looks like Coleus under trees and bushes are also without any damage. The Coleus combo I'm talking about stood on a metal table so I think it radiated enough heat to freeze just as the cars outside which allways get frozen even if the air temperature is a few degrees above freezing.
Funny thing is that only Felix has damage, the Duck Foot and Dark Chocolote seem to have some degree of anti- freeze in their body's. The outer leaves of Felix sheltered the inner side of the plant so I will probably recover soon as long as I keep patience.
Weather predictions are promising now with a heat wave coming our way (why not...) so they should be safe for a while.
Usually we never get frost after 15th of may but when I read history books there are some reports of frost and even snowcover in the middle of july a couple of centuries agoo...

It wasn't for me either. I ordered it last year and expected the best but was disappointed. I've already taken cuttings of the coleus from RD received this year and labeled each and every one of them. No problems with any of them this time.

I took cuttings and planted the strawberry jar with them and one begonia at the top. My thoughts at the time were that I might be pinching forever but they've done fine so far.

They each got water crystals and with the heat we've had the crystals have saved the day quite often.

ge 1836 , I too have a list going of " not worth bothering with and looks to much alike". It is so easy to forget and reorder :) Everything is in the dappled shade now. Even the" sun" ones don't like July and August here in south Florida. Its a killer !

Nice color combo you guys. Great work. I will have to take some photos and show you my progress. They are all growing in the shade because of weather delayed planting.

Having a good summer. Really hot but smart enough to stay indoor. DH is getting better by the day and has actually worked out twice in the last two weeks. Prior to his health problems, he worked out 3 times a week. He is finally making his own witches brew to drink without me nagging. His whole problem was dehydration and now my witches brew takes care of that.

The Lung Specialist and ENT have decided my lung infection and reoccurring asthma was from allergies and sinus drainage. I now have new nose spray and eye drops. I no longer look like I am wearing red eyeliner and I have not had a coughing spell in over a week.

I put this combination about two weeks ago. It is in the back landscape, on drip irrigation and in the shade of a Sumac Tree.

Wow, lovemyhouse - those are beautiful. Is 'painted with pink' the name of the pink one? If not, do you know the name? What is the red one? I want one of those! Are both in the sun? GORGEOUS - nice camera too!

I made that one up, for some reason it reminds me of a "Pink Splash" houseplant. Don't know what the names are, though, bought them in a mixed six-pack from Lowes when they were just wee little sprouts. :-) The container receives morning sun only for about four hours. As hot as it is here (especially this last summer) that's enough. LOL If I can figure out how to root cuttings to overwinter on my porch, be happy to send some to you in Spring. Will let you know if successful. Surprisingly enough, the camera is in an iPhone 4. I am continually amazed at the quality shots I get with it.

Liked the ones in the pictures above so much, had the gumption to try rooting cuttings for the first time ever. They seem to be doing all right. Good thing because our first freeze last week knocked out the original plants. :-) The Geraniums don't look too good, but the parent plants are still okay outside so I'll try them again.

I've reduced watering dramatically this time around and have far less of a mealy bug problem. I ditched the affected ones and now all is good. They'll put on the big growth spurt around Valentine's Day.

Lately I've had mealy bugs on a few. I never had that problem before! That's interesting that cutting down on the watering seemed to reduce them. I do think I water too much and too often. Some varities take more water than others though, so I'll still need to check them every day. Do you spray for the mealy bugs? I sprayed mine with something I bought and got a lot of leaf drop on a few. I think the spray was too strong for them. It was some kind of rose and flower spray in a spray bottle. I thought the old standby insecticidial soap, might not be enough.

Well this is supposed to be a 'show beauties' thread, so here's a picture. The green one in back is 'gay's delight'. I'm not sure what the pinkish/purple one in front is. It might be 'tabasco', but it definetly does not like sun and does well in shade. It's rather inconsistent with the pink edges, sometimes hardly any. It is in pretty deep shade here.

Mealy bugs are so deadly to coleus. Remove any that have it and keep them in another room. Dip a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol and apply to the mealy bug patches but beware because they lurk innocently and will attack over and over again. I try to remove the top two to three inches and root that, then discard the rest. Keep the new cutting away from your collection.

Water from the bottom only.

You can stick your finger down an inch into the soil to see if they're damp or not but you DO NOT want drenched plants unless you really want mealy bugs.

No, I dont feed the coleus. I am pinching them because they are getting too tall. They are too close together too because I have over 100 and they are all over the house. It is a pain watering all of them but they put on such a pretty show with their kaliedescope of colors and brighten the room! I think I better pass on ordering any at Rosy Dawn :(

This is a sport from my 'twist n twirl'. It has yellow and green sports like this, and also red ones. 'twist n twirl' is lot like the 'city lights' I posted earlier, but when you see them side by side they are quite different. 'twist' is indeed twisty, and it's not as compact and tight. It's more airy. I like them both.

I wondered if a bush of some sort would look good in the spot.
I plant a large annual and decide if the size on the landscape suits me.
The annual disappears over the winter and I either plant a bush there or not.
Its too shady for roses.I might just plant some clematis.

I just updated my coleus table. Here are the varieties I currently have. I have 6 more ordered, but I'll wait until I get them to add to the table as I like to have the pictures be of my actual plants in my environment. If there is an * in front of the name, it means it's my best guess as plant didn't have a label. Any comments/corrections as to names or other statements would be welcomed.

I'm now feeling not quite so ridiculous in my coleus addition. My daughter, who is a seamstress in her spare time (new to coleus last summer, and yes now with the indoor lights), tells me she just completed making a blanket for her coleus. It hangs over the lights as it sometimes gets too cold in her basement. Ha Ha - and I thought my expenditures and efforts was getting carried away!

I will plant a Honorine Jobert there this spring.
I plant coleus where I am thinking of a perennial, just to see the volume of the plant in the spot, if it goes well duering the season. I put a perennial there. Anemone is needed because there are no blooms there after the June July lilies etc are gone.
This is Jungle Love. The photos dont do it justice. It is just gorgeous.

I think I must have over 300 coleus plants this year. Some are quite large. I find I am spending well over an hour a day just watering, trimming and checking/treating for bugs. I enjoy doing it though (except for the checking for mealy bugs). I have the m. bugs under control but not completely eradicated. Each day I find one or two more. I try not to overwater, but I can't let them wilt! What have others done to control these pesky bugs?

I water from the bottom only and I just water them about every two weeks. By then they're looking and feeling a tad wimpy. I'd rather do it that way than risk the MB's. IF I do find any I just ditch the entire plant rather than risk having them spread to other plants.

Those big plants in the picture, did NOT start as cuttings last summer. The one with red and yellow was a SMALL established plant that I bought in Oct. The others were containers I brought inside last Oct with the intention of using them for stock plants. I made cuttings from them but now can't force myself to throw out the container plants. It's such an addition! The one in front, kiwi fern, I don't even like. I have some other big ones too.

Thanks for the information.My envy meter is at normal now.
I tried to winter over container plants one year. Cantignie Royalle didnt make it. I believe the small leaved plants are hard to keep in general.

The most effective way to prevent mealy bugs is to treat all the coleus with a systemic pesticide. I've done this for the past two winters and have had absolutely NO sign of mealy bugs or white flies. Most systemics contain Imidacloprid, which from what I've read is derived from tobacco (nicotine). I've seen "organic" insecticides that have this as the "active ingredient". The easiest application is using Bayer 12-month Tree and Shrub Protect & Feed. You mix the required amount and apply it to the plant only once a year. Works wonderfully! I use it on all of my indoor plants (applying in the fall) and many of my outdoor shrubs, (applying in the spring) especially those attractive to Japanese beetles. The Bayer product is available at big box stores, including WalMart this spring, for under $20 for 40 oz. It's in a blue plastic bottle, and both in the 40 oz. size and a larger jug size. Up to last year, there were no instructions for potted plant use, but I found out about using it from another DG'ner who uses it on his hoyas and did the same with my potted plants and overwintered coleus. Now, there are instructions for use on potted plants. Sure beats cotton swabs and alcohol! (I'm overwintering 30 coleus standards that I started from cuttings last year, and about three dozen rooted cuttings from last fall.)

I totally agree with HoosierGreen and use the same method for my coleus. I have tried everything known to man to get rid of fungus gnats and it seems as though they just laugh at me but at least it works on the other pests.

Interesting! I have 100+ Coleus and water from the top only! When I did water from the bottom, the plants were either getting too much or too little water. After a few days they were either too dry or soggy, which is not good. With top watering I have more control and can water all of my plants faster. I have to water mine every 5-6 days because they are in a warm sunny room and on sunny windowsills and dry out quickly and I don't feel like I am watering too often. I have seen a few mealies and get rid of them immediately and don't have a problem like I did several years ago. The key is to look under leaves and crevices for them and get rid of them right away. I don't know if the amount of water they receive promotes mealy bugs and have never read that before.

Wow, I can't believe how infrequently some of you water you coleus. I need to water mine at least every other day. I suppose a lot of it depends on the temperature and humidity. My basement is way too warm. I wish I could find a way to cut down on the heat there. My son in law looked at it and said it was normal, but I don't think so. It's as warm down there as in my living room. Thanks for the info Hoosier on that Bayer product. Do you spray this on the plant? So there is no harm to any of the coleus from this spray? I just bought some horticulural oil, but I havn't tried it yet. Has anyone ever used that on their coleus?

I always use Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap and it gets rid of the mealies and eggs in crevices of the plants. I have even drenched a Coleus with it, which was infested with mealies a few years ago) and it did absolutely no damage to the foliage. I highly recommend it!